(Photographic) Happiness = Reality - Expectations: February + March 2024 Monthly Review

April 2, 2024 Sarah Marino

Ripples form after a flash flood, with the milky flood water filling the depressions. Death Valley National Park.

Well, I missed my monthly update for February and lost all momentum with my weekly blog posts. The reasons: ephemeral conditions in Death Valley, finishing the second edition of our significantly expanded and fully revised Beyond the Grand Landscape ebook, getting a nasty cold, and saying yes to social time in the desert whenever an invitation popped up.

Backyard Abstracts: Photos From My Ice Farming Operation

January 21, 2024 Sarah Marino

Over the last few years, we have occasionally put a tub of water in our backyard during colder weather to see if it might create some opportunities for photographing ice patterns. We never put much effort into this approach to photography because it seemed like we could usually find something more interesting in a natural setting. Enter Adam Gibbs and the preview pages for his new book, Land & Light. In one of the sample spreads, Adam shares a beautiful photo of frost patterns and describes the “ice farming” operation behind its creation.

This story made me decide to put a bit more effort into our own ice farming operation, especially since we were in the middle of a stretch of very cold weather. As I started experimenting with some new ideas, I hoped we might be able to create the conditions for frilly frost to form, like Adam showed in the photo in his book preview. Likely because of the humidity differences between damp Vancouver Island and dry southwestern Colorado, that frost never materialized as I had envisioned. With more experimentation, I eventually found an approach that created some tiny wild patterns.

Integrating Gratitude Practices Into Nature Photography

November 26, 2023 Sarah Marino

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, partially because it involves cooking a large, complicated meal and I always enjoy cooking—and sharing—large, complicated meals. My holiday meal this year was complicated because I did all of the cooking myself, not because I selected any fancy recipes. After integrating more modern dishes over the last few years, the traditional sides—sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, biscuits, corn, and stuffing—seemed most appealing as I prepared my grocery list so those are the dishes that ended up on my table (in addition to a less traditional apple cake for dessert).

Another thing I appreciate about Thanksgiving is seeing other people share their gratitude. Amidst so much constantly heavy, negative news, it is lovely to enjoy a day of reading posts that focus on positive things. After seeing these many posts plus some news stories about the mental health benefits of expressing gratitude, I went down a rabbit hole of reading to learn more. This short article from Arthur Brooks at The Atlantic (gift link with no paywall) is a nice summary of the research, historical underpinnings, and practical advice about “Four Ways to Be Grateful—And Happier.” The reason I appreciated this article in particular is how Brooks likens gratefulness to exercise: to the reap the benefits, you have to practice.

Q and A: Naturalist Apps, Connecting with a Landscape, and Photographic Celibacy

November 10, 2023 Sarah Marino

Using the iNaturalist app plus field guides helped me identify some locations where this plant might grow within Death Valley National Park. iNaturalist’s companion app, Seek, is one of my favorite apps for the reasons I explain below.

In August, a publication invited me to participate in an extended interview and then repeatedly delayed publishing it. Instead of hoping the interview might eventually run someday, I decided to withdraw it and publish it in two parts on my website instead. You will find part one below.

Alaska Wildlife from a Landscape Photographer's Perspective

October 27, 2023 Sarah Marino

A black bear takes a break from salmon-maiming to shake off. The shapes in the background are all dead salmon, many of them maimed by the bears searching for eggs. Live spawning salmon can also be seen in the creek. This photo is an example of how I needed to shift my thinking about composition. Normally, distractions like the dead salmon would have kept me from taking a photo of this scene. With wildlife photography, I decided they add important context.

To start our fall nature photography season this year, we went to Alaska at the end of August and ended up spending a lot of time photographing wildlife and birds. Although I always enjoy watching wild animals, I have never spent much time photographing them for a variety of reasons. Yet, with so many animals and birds around us, it seemed like I should at least give it a decent try and I ended up really enjoying the experience. It felt exciting to try something new, stretch my skills, and add a different kind of photography to my portfolio. The process of watching these animals and birds also deepened my understanding of these ecosystems and left me feeling more connected to the landscape. Below, I share a few favorite experiences, things I learned as a landscape photographer trying to photograph wildlife, and a few new photos. You can see the full gallery of photos here.

Look For Beauty All Around You: A Lesson from Female Birds and Arctic Ground Squirrels

October 19, 2023 Sarah Marino

In many ways, our modern society conditions us to find excitement and joy only at the pinnacle of experience. With nature photography, this looks like the epic sunset, the perfect swath of autumn color, or being in the presence of especially dramatic scenery. While I still seek out such experiences, I try to balance them with finding equal satisfaction and happiness with more common everyday experiences out in nature. A recent example: feeling full of joy and excitement when I saw a thriving four o-clock wildflower and its glowing magenta petals, with white-lined sphinx moths actively feeding on its nectar, in late October while on a casual evening walk in the Utah desert.

A few days ago, upon the recommendation of fellow photographer Dario Perizzolo, I listened to an episode of the Hidden Brain podcast, “How Your Beliefs Shape Your Reality.” Near the end, the psychologist being interviewed, Jer Clifton, suggested a simple mental exercise to help cultivate curiosity and promote this kind of connection with the natural world. Pick up a leaf from a tree and contemplate its beauty: the shape, the colors, the intricacy of the veins. If this leaf was rare, it would be considered a work of art but because it is so commonplace, it doesn’t command any special attention—or any attention at all.

Black and White: Learning to See Opportunities While Out in Nature

October 13, 2023 Sarah Marino

Midday light can work well for black and white photography. I headed out into these sand dunes in the early afternoon and found opportunities for photography through sunset. Canon R, 24mm, f/14, 1/2500 sec, ISO 400.

If you spend much time looking at nature photography on social media, you have probably seen a common type of post: a photographer, lamenting the poor conditions at the time, explains how they tried to salvage a photo by converting it to black and white. Before you read any further, I’m asking you to forever dismiss this kind of thinking about working in black and white. Instead of seeing black and white as a backup processing option when the conditions you hoped for do not materialize, I encourage you to instead think about black and white nature photography as an expressive form that stands on its own and holds the potential to open up many new creative avenues for sharing the connections you make with the natural world. A key step in shifting this mindset is learning to see opportunities for black and white photography while you are out in nature.

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